How to make this game run less catastrophic

goal of this guide is to fix stutters, smoothing out frametimes and make the game run less catastrophic pretty much.
A representation of work made by amazing people in this community.

Update #4 (as of January 15th)

Buy all DLCs to improve lows even further. Lol
I'm not joking.

Update #3 (as of December 23th)

With latest reframework nightly Highres Texture DLC Pack works again!
Benchmarkresults here: check it out.

Update #2 (as of November 16th)

There IS a way to make your game load high res texture corectly actually!
I've just added a new section on this guide. If you want to use them decompressed, check it out!

Update #1 (as of November 13th)

̶W̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶d̶e̶c̶o̶m̶p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶"̶H̶i̶g̶h̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶c̶k̶"̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶e̶l̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶l̶o̶a̶d̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶"̶H̶i̶g̶h̶"̶ ̶t̶e̶x̶t̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶s̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶u̶g̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶d̶u̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶V̶R̶A̶M̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶5̶0̶9̶0̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶v̶i̶d̶e̶o̶.̶ ̶

Anyway, this guide is still relevant especially on lower end GPUs and does deliver measurable and noticable improvements. I just have no benchmark Video for that right now and mine would only lead to misinformation hence I put it on private but Digital Foundry covered this already.
On high end GPUs there is a difference too, but not as extreme.

Credits

All kudos go to these amazing humans who did more for improving performance than Capcom themselves have not in 9 whole friggin months:
Eigeen[next.nexusmods.com], AsteriskAmpersand[next.nexusmods.com]FinnBough[next.nexusmods.com] and praydog[next.nexusmods.com]

I am just representing their work, cause nobody else neither did on here nor anywhere else in videoform AFAIK. And I do think more people have to be aware of this, since it's the most improvement we have gotten since launch. I'm dead serious.

Requirements

• REFramework nightly (as of November 2025)[github.com]
  
• MHW-tex-decompressor[github.com]
  
• more diskspace
  
• 7-Zip
  
• motivation to mess with your game

we're here to break things, so expect it to break your game at least once :)

Introduction

So, I've been trying to enjoy this game for more than 300 days now. So far quite unsucessfully but what I am about to show you actually does make a noticeable difference in performance and it is quite easy to achieve actually.

That doesn’t mean it suddenly runs great or that I can enjoy it now personally - it still performs rather bad hence the title - but hey, it’s a start.
And who knows? TU4 is just around the corner (16 Dec to be exact) and could bring some more improvements[www.monsterhunter.com].

What's the problem / cause

One of the biggest causes of absolutely dreadful performance in Monster Hunter Wilds, especially those nasty frametime spikes, comes down to compressed textures.
Because all textures are shipped in a compressed format, your GPU has to decompress them on the fly while also rendering the game world. That means it’s doing double the work — so it can show us the breathtakingly gorgeous desert textures on our screens.

Luckily, some clever folks out there figured out a way to decompress these textures ahead of time, which takes a little load off the GPU and frees up resources. Downside of it being you need 50-80GB more disk space, but it's totally worth it.

Instructions

• Download REFramework [github.com] (MHWILDS.zip), extract the ZIP file, and place dinput8.dll into your Monster Hunter Wilds game folder (default path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MonsterHunterWilds).
  
• Start MH:Wilds. The REFramework window should appear in the top-left corner. If it doesn’t, press the Insert key (above your arrow keys) to open it. Then expand LooseFileLoader and check its box to activate it. It should look like this:
  https://images.steamusercontent.com/ugc/13145172493641803049/1ED0787F5489BC22CA8EEA2031904AE8F0DB13EA/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false
  
• press ins key once more, so reframework window closes (otherwise that activated checkbox won't save)
  
• Close the game.
  
• Run mhws-tex-decompressor.exe.
  
• Choose Automatic and follow the on-screen steps — it’s pretty self-explanatory.
  
• Start the game again.

How to make High Res Texture DLC load correctly when decompressed

Tested on TU4. It still works when using latest REFramework nightly
If you want to decompress high-resolution textures pack as well, there is something to keep in mind. Just decompressing and let them at their default location, as for regular textures, won't work for whatever reason.
The way to decompress the DLC file is the exact same, but the way you insert it into your game folder is different. You have to create a so-called "hard link". If you know what that means, then you will surely know the command line commands for it. For everyone else who has no idea what that even means, I recommend using this tool[schinagl.priv.at] to make it easier and, above all, more convenient. Download it, install it, restart your explorer as it will ask you. Now you will have a new contextmenu entry* within windows. I figured using this tool would be simpler to explain for not so tech savy people on here.

1. Now simply move your decompressed "re_dlc_stm_3308900.pak.sub_000.pak" from it's default location -> "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MonsterHunterWilds\dlc" into the root folder of your game -> "..\MonsterHunterWilds\".
   
2. Now pay attention to your "re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_0xx.pak" files. On my installation I do have 13 of those, so what I have to do now is I rename my decompressed "re_dlc_stm_3308900.pak.sub_000.pak" to "re_chunk_000.pak.sub_000.pak.patch_014.pak" (there are 13 files, so I increase that number by one and name it to 14)
   
3. Right click onto your renamed DLC file. You should have a new contextmenu entry* called "pick link source" now. click that.
   
4. browse back into dlc folder "..\MonsterHunterWilds\dlc" -> rightclick -> "drop as Hardlink"
   
5. rename that hardlink you just created back to "re_dlc_stm_3308900.pak.sub_000.pak"
   
6. now your game should load high res textures correctly.

*If you're on Windows 11 and use that horrible new default contextmenu you have to click on "show more options" at the bottom first to make hardlink options appear.

enable native NVMe Support on Windows 11 25H2

Disclaimer: Only do this when you know what you're doing (creating a system restore point before highly recommended). Also be aware of some SSD Dashboards (e.g Wd Dashboard, Samsung Magician etc.) might not recognize your drive anymore after applying these values.
But those Manufature software are bloatware to begin with and should not be isntalled on your system in the first place when you have no actual proper reason ;)

Microsoft announced and implemented native NVMe support for Windows Server 2025[techcommunity.microsoft.com] a few days ago.
The same tweak can be applied to Windows 11 through manually setting some registry values already.

Being me of course I had to test its impact on MH:W.

Here they are.[imgur.com] It's not much (2.3% improvement on 0.2% lows), but hey:
I'll take every % I can get on this disastrous performing game.

This is for NVMe drives and probably high end systems only, but I'd suggest anyone with an NVMe to set those values cause it could on top make your Windows 11 snappier

How to:

• Open a texteditor (notepad++ e.g)
  
• copy+pase the following
  
• save it as nvmeOn.reg
  
• execute that .reg file you just created
  
• reboot

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides]
"735209102"=dword:00000001
"1853569164"=dword:00000001
"156965516"=dword:00000001

Config.ini tweak(s)

Steamcommunity member "Lince_SPAIN" brought this to my attention.

I know this barely does anything to games perfomance, but since it certainly does not hurt perfomance, I'd suggest setting these values anyway. And hey, I'm here to present you every possible way to improve things and that's what I do.
Benchmark[imgur.com]

So in your Gamefolder there is a "config.ini" which has a value that theoretically is telling your game how many threads the process is allowed to use. On default it was set to 8 for me, but on a 8 core CPU with SMT/HyperThreading it should be at 16.

How To:

• open "config.ini" (located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MonsterHunterWilds)
  
• look for "ParallelBuildProcessorCount=8" and "RenderWorkerThreadPriorityAboveNormal=Disable" (should be line 108 - I suggest using notepad++ for that)
  
• change "..Count" to the correct value for your Processor and "..PriorityAboveNormal" to "Enable"
  
• save changes
  
  Processor Recommendations:
  Sixcore e.g 5600(X), 7600(X) with SMT/HT: 12
  Eightcore e.g. 5700(X),5800(X), 7700(X), 7800(X): 16
  Twelvecore e.g 3|5|7|9|900X: 24
  Sixteencore e.g 3|5|7|9|950X: 32
  
  V-Cache CPUs
  5700X3D, 5800X3D, 7800X3D, 9800X3D: 16
  5900X3D, 7900X3D and 9900X3D: 12 (you don't want to run the game on more than on first 6 cores to avoid second CCD latency penality)
  7950X3D, 9950X3D: 16 (you don't want to run the game on more than on first 8 cores to avoid second CCD latency penality)

(experimental) get rid of texture pop ins

I have not re-tested this on TU4

This section is for people who simply can't use decompressed High Res Texture DLC due to their GPU VRAM limitations, but still want to improve perfomance further than just decompressing regular textures.

So, when looking all night long for a solution to make decompressed High Res Texture DLC load 100% correctly (I didn't find it, Eigeen gave me the tip), I discovered a very welcome side effect and basically another way to make this game run better on lower end GPUs. Just by simply leaving High Res Texture DLC at their default location after decompression, they won't work 100% correctly, right? Screenshot (slider)[imgsli.com] (they simply dont get applied in some areas like cutscenes e.g) We know that by now BUT they somehow still improve some textures and most importantly: get rid of texture pop ins / slow loading. I have absolutely no idea why that is and if this is worth the insane amount of extra diskspace for anyone, but if you're that annoyed by texture pop ins just give it a try I guess ? On my PC (9950X3D+RTX5090) there was a very reproducable improvement.

How To: just decompress high res texture pack, don't do that hardlink thingy and just set them in your graphic settings :)
This way some textures, like floor e.g are sharper [imgsli.com]than on "high" quality level, but keep VRAM utilisation low since they don't load 100% correctly.
It's weird, but it works.

Here are two comparison videos I did for investigations before I knew how to make them load correctly. You can see without using that hardlink method, they don't get applied in cutscenes

(experimental, highres DLC only) sacrifice avg. FPS for 1% lows / a smoother experience

I have not re-tested this on TU4

Yesterday I kept tinkering with another mod. I'll update this section as I make new discoveries, but I wanted to put it out there immediately cause on my System it clearly improves the overall experience further by a whole lot without even the need for a real benchmark - man, some might think we'll soon reach a point where this game will get enjoyable haha

I've kept hearing about this DirectStorageOption [www.nexusmods.com]mod and tried it myself a while ago already. That was when using either uncompressed high textures / compressed high res dlc textures and it made zero difference on my system at least. So I just tested it once again, but this time with correctly loaded uncompressed high res dlc textures (hardlink method) and what can I say:
I do think this might be almost another gamechanger in overall experience / smoothness.

I've a high end system, so I have no idea how this will perfom on lower end hardware and if it even improve things, but for me it did deliver measurable and noticably improvements for sacrificing a bit of average fps.

Benchmark results
Bar charts[i.imgur.com]
Line charts[i.imgur.com]

• Update DirectStorage.dll to latest version[www.nuget.org] by extracting dstorage.dll and dstoragecore.dll from microsoft.direct3d.directstorage.1.3.0.npkg (native\bin\x64\) and paste both dll files into your MH:W root folder
  
• Extract content of lDirectStorageOption[www.nexusmods.com] file into root folder of your game
  
• edit "..\reframework\plugins\DirectStorageOption.ini" and play around with different BufferSizes
  
• start your game, open reframework. Under "Scripted Generated UI" section you'll have now DirectStorageOption change that to GPU
  Have fun testing. This one really is different on everyones hardware and nobody can test that for you. My settings don't necessarily work best for you.

"iStagingBufferSize" recommendations:
lower end GPUs: 32,64
Higher end GPUs: 128,256 (on my system 128 was the sweetspot)

Disclaimer, additional Info, FAQ

I am experiencing high CPU usage after TU4
Did you make sure shader compiling is actually completed? Capcom deffered this process into gameplay. Heres proof

Do I have to keep backup files when using automatic mode on mhw-tex-decompressor?

Well, it depends. If you're fine with re-downloading the game entirely in case of anything breaking, then no, absolutely no reason to keep them.
If you have, let's say a metered connection, like a monthly traffic limit set by your ISP or a real slow connection, then I guess you're better off with keeping them, biting the dust and accept those extra gigabytes on your drive. Anyway, your gameinstallation filesize will increase no matter what.
Example of two of the biggest files decompressed:
21.3GB -> 35.3GB (regular textures)
77.3GB -> 131GB (high res texture pack)

So if you keep the backup, the actual folder size will be 351GB if you decompress literally everything and keep the backup created by mhw-tex-decompressor (they'll all be renamed to .backup as file extension in your folder).

Am I safe to update my game with this modification?

Nope. Steam will break your game when the next (bigger) update drops, since it will automatically realize your files are not original, therefore it will delete them and start re-downloading all of them without asking for confirmation. Hence I'd suggest putting auto update for MH:W on manually and keep original compressed files, so you can restore them quickly with mhw-tex-decompressor first and only then let steam update your game. This way you're 100% safe.

Windows defender or any other Antivirus software blocks the .exe (W32/Exploit.gen)

That's is a false positive. You have to put it onto your exclusion list, so you are able to execute it. The developer is aware of this already. It seems that the auto update function within the application triggers that.

Once again: I don't take credit for any of this and never wanted to. I just wanted to get this out here since I figured not many people are even aware of this

English is not my native language, so apologize for any weird phrasings or grammar mistakes.

[Cris Red]

alguien tiene error al usarlo en conjunto con generacion de cuadros de amd?

[Josh]

@otev I'll test this immediately on my system. What the hell. Thanks for sharing!

[Otev]

https://www.reddit.com/r/MonsterHunter/comments/1qcy3hn/mh_wilds_bad_performance_mystery_solved/

If true, would genuinely be insane

[Josh]

@papy the tool has a update function and will notify when theres a new version. Or just go to github, check if theres a update. Usually it only requires an update after an big update which is not happening anymore afaik.

[VOID]

Huge thanks to everyone involved in figuring this out — this honestly did more for my experience than any official patch so far.

I was struggling with constant texture pop-in and slow-loading textures, even on an NVMe and with reasonable settings. After following this step by step and decompressing the base textures, the issue is completely gone. Frametime is noticeably more stable and the game finally feels playable.


Really appreciate the work and the effort put into this.

[Slangen]

nvm the crashing part, seems that was just the 9070xt drivers not working.

[Slangen]

When using the decompressor it gives the error: Invalid Pak file magic: expected [4B, 50, 4B, 41], found [0, 0, 0, 0], at the end. And crashes a few seconds after loading in though that might be because i tried the high res texture pack stuff.

[Nells]

Hi, I wanna ask, how big is the total file for the decompressor?

[Papy]

assuming the game updates how do i update the mod? do i have to redownload it from scratch or can i use the .exe again

[Aty]

@Josh Ok, what's the difference with Symbolic Link instead? It doesn't work?